Under the Fireworks
by Lillian Smith
Summary: The thing about having a rival is that you keep an eye on them—searching for their weaknesses, so you'd know how to defeat them. That was Kariu's mindset when she topped her class along with her new rival, Ohga. Sure, he wasn't an obstacle in getting the silver pin but he defeated her too. Working together, she fell in love in the most cliched way ever.[CURRENTLY PAUSED]


**_Rated: T_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own ReLIFE._**

* * *

**"_No matter what happens, I think I'll always be in love with him." – Kariu Rena_**

**"_Simply by spending time with her… I fell in love." – Ohga Kazuomi_**

* * *

**Under the Fireworks**

Kariu Rena climbed into the metro that would lead to a station near her new school. She was very excited and very proud. Entering into Aoba High School was not easy. One of her neighbours graduated from that school and her mother had been continuously boasting about it to her parents. Aoba High School had an amazing reputation and had first come under her radar when her neighbour was admitted there. Ever since then, Aoba High School was her goal.

"_Wow, you're going to Aoba High?" her best friend Akira had said. "That's _so_ cool! Obviously someone with your marks could go anywhere!"_

"_Your marks are really good too," Rena said. "Why don't you come to Aoba too?"_

"_I'd love to, but I really wanna go to Matsubara High," Akira said and then mumbled some reason. "We'll keep in touch, won't we?"_

"_Obviously," Rena shrugged._

Rena stood near a window and looked outside as they came to a stop. Some students shuffled inside and the train became more crowded. By now, she could see that a lot of people in the train were students from her school. She felt really excited. No one she knew was going to Aoba High, and that was perfect as she could start from scratch and completely rebuild herself.

"Hey, who's that?" Rena heard a girl whisper, pointing to a boy standing next to her. They were all wearing uniforms from their school as well as the blue pin, which was for first years.

"Oh I know him," the girl's friend replied. She was also wearing their uniform but she was wearing a green pin, which was for second years. "Name's Ohga Kazuomi. He went to my middle school. He should be in your grade."

"He looks cute," the girl said, and her friend said, "Ohga!"

"Who's that?" Ohga-san turned. He was tall, taller than Rena, and he did look handsome. He had grey eyes and blond hair. He recognized the older girl and gave a bright smile, "Hatsumi? I didn't know you went to Aoba!"

"And I didn't know I'd be seeing you here either," Hatsumi-san smiled back. "How's life?"

"It's great because I actually got admitted to this school!" Ohga-san said. "What about you?"

"First year was so hard, and I'm just hoping second year would be better."

"It's that hard?"

"Well you wouldn't have to worry - I'm sure you'll kill everyone with your grades!"

"Let's hope for that," Ohga shrugged.

"by the way," Hatsumi-san said, gesturing to her friend. "This is my friend, Kaiba Yuriko."

'Hey," Kaiba-san waved shyly. "I'm a first year too!"

"Cool, we could be in the same class!" Ohga-san said politely.

"Yeah," Kaiba-san smiled.

The conversation continued from there but Rena stopped paying attention.

* * *

Rena walked in her classroom and looked at the board to see where her place would be. 2nd row, last seat. Spotting it, she quickly went to her seat and watched as students came into the class. She wondered how her classmates would be like.

That was when she saw Ohga-san…and he was walking towards her? Did he recognize her from the train? She realized that he was obviously in the same class as her. She pretended to ignore him. Maybe he should sit in front of her, according to the seating arrangement.

Scratch that. He was sitting next to her. 1st row, last seat. The corner of the class.

Within seconds their teacher entered and introduced himself. "My name is Amori Haruto. You can call me Amori-sensei. I'm a Japanese Literature teacher. Well then, we'll do the introductions of the students later. First we have to go to the morning assembly. After that – since you're first years – you'll have an orientation."

* * *

"…so I hope you all students will spend three amazing years here!" the principal ended the welcoming speech of the first years, followed by a weak applause by a mainly bored student body.

"It's finally over," a girl behind Rena grumbled.

"Yeah, but now we have the orientation," a boy said.

"_Ugh_," the girl groaned.

In the orientation, they explained about many rules about the school.

"Today, all the second years and third years are writing a test," the teacher who was doing the orientation explained. "But since you're first years, you'll have this test tomorrow. The portions are mainly what was covered last year and in the admission test. For clarification, your homeroom teachers will also give you the syllabus."

At this, many students groaned.

"The toppers of this test will be the class representatives," the teacher, unfazed, continued. It was obvious that she was used to the reaction. "And they will receive a silver pin. With it, everything in the cafeteria is free."

"Woah!"

"Seriously?!"

"I know right, I heard it from my sis!"

Rena knew about all of it, alright. She heard it from her neighbour, who had gotten the silver pin five times her whole time in Aoba High. She aimed to get it _all_ the time. But she knew it wasn't just the free food, there was more.

"Correspondence costs and school fess are paid for too," the teacher continued.

"Suddenly, I wanna be the class representative."

"Me too!"

"I actually knew this before, my sis-"

"Yeah, we know. Your sister told you everything."

After the orientation, the people who wanted to sign up for any club were given the chance and the rest proceeded to go to their own classes. Rena quickly went ahead and signed up for the Girls' Volleyball Club. The sign-up sheet said that they should meet after school in the auditorium. Keeping this in mind, Rena returned to her class.

* * *

"Let's start the introductions from that corner," Amori-sensei said, pointing to Ohga. "Just your name and what club you signed up for should be enough."

"I'm Ohga Kazuomi," Ohga-san said, standing up. "And I'm in the go-home club."

"I'm Kariu Rena," Rena said, standing up. "I signed up for the Girls' Volleyball Club."

"I'm Uyeda Misao," the boy next to Rena said, standing up. "I'm in the Boys' Football Club."

Further into the introductions, Rena learnt that the girl sitting in front of her was Arakaki Shina and she was in the Art Club, the boy diagonally to her left was Yasui Takeshi and he was also in the Art Club, and the boy diagonally to her right was Narita Omezo and he wasn't in any club.

"I'm Osada Rini," a girl in the 4th row said, standing up. "I'm in the Girls' Volleyball Club."

Rena sat up. Till now, she had just been memorizing the names of people close to her. But this girl was in the Girls' Volleyball Club! She needed to know her name too.

"I'm Coda Shukishi," a familiar boy in the 5th row said, standing up. "And I'm in the go-home club. I'm from Kiyose Higashi Middle School."

That was her middle school! That's why he looked so familiar! Who knew someone from her middle school would be in her class. She wondered which class he was in the previous year.

She didn't notice it at first, but they had arranged the seating in a way that each column was filled with boys and girls alternatively, the left of the class starting with boys and towards the right ending with a girls' column. In total, there were three girls' column and three boy's column. The class was overall with six columns and eight rows, thereby 48 students in her class.

"Hey!" the girl in front of her, Arakaki-san said, turning towards her. She had dark brown hair, which she wore in twin braids, and also huge green eyes. "So….Kariu-san, right?"

"Yeah," Rena shrugged. "And you're Arakaki-san, if I'm correct."

"_You remembered my name_!" Arakaki-san squealed excitedly. "No one else does! Everyone says it's so complicated and it takes people _forever_ to remember my name!"

"Haha…" Rena shrugged. "I guess I have a good memory…?"

"Anyway, so what middle school do you come from?" Arakaki-san asked.

"Kiyose Higashi Middle School," Rena said.

"Really?" Arakaki-san asked. "I know a friend who went there! Actually, we're not friends yet, she's just a neighbour."

"Really? What's her na-?"

"Kariu-san, Arakaki-san," someone cleared their throat. Rena and Arakaki-san turned their heads to see a teacher look at them in disapproval. "First day and already causing trouble?"

The class laughed a little.

Rena could feel her cheeks reddening. How come she didn't notice that she and Arakaki-san was the only one talking, and that the next teacher had already entered the class? Apparently, he was looking at them and the duo hadn't notice him until he cleared his throat.

"I-I apologize, sensei," Rena muttered.

"I apologize too, sensei," Arakaki-san said. But she didn't really look that disturbed. Instead just a little sheepish, like she was used to it.

That would be make sense, Rena though. Arakaki-san seemed like the talkative type.

* * *

It was lunchtime.

Rena bought some money with her and she had to admit, she was excited to check out the cafeteria. Her neighbour had said that Aoba High School had some _really_ tasty dishes.

"Kariu-san," Arakaki-san turned to her. "Can I eat lunch with you?"

"Sure," Rena said. Arakaki-san seemed like a really jovial person and seemed like a fun-type. Also, Rena wanted to continue her conversation with her from earlier.

The cafeteria was was huge and looked really good and modern. Amidst the long tables and chairs, the duo took their trays and waited in queue to get their food.

"About your neighbour," Rena said, cutting to the chase. "What's her name?"

"Fujita Amaya. Do you know her?" Arakaki-san asked eagerly.

"Ahh, yeah, I do," Rena said, feeling disappointed. She did know her. But she just really, really, hated her. They shared a bad history. When Arakaki-san said that her neighbour was from Rena's middle school, she hoped it would probably be a good friend, or at least someone she was on good terms with.

"_Awesome_!" Arakaki-san said, as she paid for her food. " Wouldn't she be thrilled when she knows my classmate went in the same school as her?!"

"Haha," Rena shrugged, as she too paid for her food. "To be honest, not really. We…don't get along."

"Oh," Arakaki-san said, disappointed. "By the way, I'm from Kasai Minami School."

"I've never heard of it…where is it?" Rena said, as she searched her memory for even a vague mention of the said school.

"Actually, I'm from the country and I just moved here," Arakaki-san said. " So I didn't really expect anyone here to know my school. Anyway, I'm new to the city and that's one of the reasons why I'm not exactly friends with my neighbour yet. We gotta spend some time together to be friends, right?"

"Yeah…" Rena nodded. "Where do you want to sit?"

"I don't mind sitting anywhere," Arakaki-san said, as she sat on a random spot. Rena sat on the opposite side.

"By the way, about my school," Arakaki-san continued. "It's not just a middle school – it has all the grades: from primary school till high school."

"Is that so?" Rena asked. "Then it would be really big, right?"

"No, it isn't that big either," Arakaki-san smiled slightly. "My village is pretty small, so it doesn't need a massive school. I was so amazed when I came to the city and saw all these huge schools! It's so cool being part of the city, isn't it?"

"I guess you could say that," Rena smiled. Soon Rena had finished her food but Arakaki-san was still eating, and it was mainly because she was talking so much and Rena was the one listening to her. After break was over, they returned to class together.

* * *

The class was mostly full by the time they reached. Since it was the first day, they barely had anything to do. The teachers would come and introduce themselves and talk a little bit about their subject, the syllabus and what kind of questions they would expect for the test the next day. They even revised some general topics a bit.

After that, classes were over. Some students opted to go home immediately, while students who had to go for their first club meeting stayed behind.

"Osada-san!" Rena called one of her classmates.

She was tall, had a slim figure, dark skin, curly and short black hair with a set a black eyes. The girl in question turned her eyes to Rena questioningly. She was packing her bag.

"You are…?" Osada-san said.

"Kariu Rena," Rena said quickly. "I'm in the Girls' Volleyball Club too!"

"Oh I see," Osada-san said, her face clearing up.

"Can you accompany me to the auditorium for the Club's meeting?" Rena asked. She didn't necessarily need anyone, but it would be cool to have someone to walk with. Rena wasn't exactly the social type, but she was in a new school and she didn't want to deal with everything alone.

"I'm so glad someone asked!" Osada-san smiled, as she finished packing her bag. She looked relieved. "I didn't exactly want to go alone…"

* * *

Osada-san was a very shy girl. So the whole time they walked towards the auditorium, it was rather quiet and this time it was Rena initiating the conversation to make everything less awkward. Soon, albeit slowly, Osada-san joined in the conversation and Rena found out that she was a very sweet girl.

Finally, they reached the auditorium. The Boys' Volleyball Club was on another side and there was also the Girls' and Boys' Basketball Clubs meeting too. It was a good thing it was just a meeting and that no one was going to play, otherwise it would have caused a ruckus.

However, the meeting hadn't started yet and some people were simply playing around. Rena hadn't noticed it at first but she recognized of the girls as Tamarai Honoka-san. And what was strange wasn't that she chose _Aoba_ of all schools (why not choose a school with a better sports team?), but that she was actually not even playing well. Osada-san noticed her looking at Tamarai-san and asked, "Kariu-san, do you know her?"

"No," Rena shook her head. How come no one recognized her? Tamarai-san was so good at Volleyball and she was pretty famous… "Do you recognize her, Osada-san?"

"No," Osada-san said, after looking at Tamarai-san for a moment.

Then they started the meeting. It started with their club leader – Amatsu Kokoro – explaining the basis and rules of the club. Then she said that even though the club would have all members who're simply interested in Volleyball, the official team would only consist of the best. Rena intended to make it to the team.

* * *

**I know it's kind of boring and bland, but this is just chapter one and hopefully I'll make things more interesting form the next chapter.**

**I actually wrote this way back in April 2019 but I didn't publish it because I wanted to finish it first but I lacked motivation and I left off. I'm hoping that publishing this would push me into continuing to write this story. **

**Please do leave a review. I hope none of the characters were acting OOC and please mention if you spotted any grammar or punctuation mistakes. You guys can criticize my story as long as it's constructive criticism and not blind hate.**

**Assuming, any of will even _bother_ to read and leave a review.**


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